I hope you have had an enjoyable summer break, and also that you and your students at had a successful results day(s) last month!

This is the first monthly PSA Teachers' e-Newsletter of the academic year, which begins an exciting 12 months ahead as we continue to develop our offering to schools.

I know many teachers continue to pick up e-mails during the summer, but if you missed August's Teachers' e-Newsletter, which outlined some exciting developments that have been taking place for the PSA, members can find previous e-Newsletters online here.

The workshop will focus on the development of effective pedagogic practices and strategies to enhance political literacies, skills and participation amongst young people in the classroom and across their schools and communities.

Places are allocated on a first come first served basis - so register now to avoid disappointment!

Parliament Week 2014

Parliament Week is a programme of events and activities that connect people with parliamentary democracy in the UK. There’s something for everyone, whether you attend or organise an event or simply take part in the conversation online.

Organisations across the UK run events and activities throughout Parliament Week which explore what parliamentary democracy means to them and their community.

Parliament Week is coordinated by the House of Commons with support from the House of Lords. All events can be found online here.

PSA's "Hardcopy or #Hashtag?" Parliament Week Initiative

The PSA are once again organising one of the showcase Parliament Week events on the afternoon of 17th November 2014.

The ideas will be generated from a series of regional (university) based workshops which the PSA are facilitating between 8 September and 10 October. A selection of these students will present their ideas during the main event to the young audience.

Full details are availible online here. We would love for as many as possible of our member schools to be involved with this initiative - but please note that capacity is limited for all events.

Please register your interest with James Ludley and interested parties will be contacted in due course.

Returning for the fourth year, we have teamed up with YouGov to ask your students to explore the question: "Europe - in or out?"

So far we have had lots of interest from schools and students about taking part. Encouraging young people to become more engaged in politics is really important and the competition has been blogged or publicised by many MPs and politicians from around the country.

For last year’s winning entry, all the rules and how to enter, please click here. The deadline for submissions is October 17th 2014.

The PSA has outlined our concerns regarding the ongoing A-level reforms for Government and Politics in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The statistical data released by Ofqual for the A2 and AS-level entries this summer only cements the growing concerns for the co-teachability of the AS and A-level specifications.

You can read more about why the PSA feels this is the case online here.I am very interested in hearing your views regarding this important issue, so please do drop me an email.

“Scotland deliberates”: An interactive conversation about the #indyref debate

Scotland goes to the polls on the 18th of September to decide whether or not to become an independent nation. There has been lots of coverage of the merits of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ positions. But what about the wider public deliberation?